METRIC SYSTEM

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METRIC SYSTEM

• MEASUREMENT SYSTEM IN SCIENCE

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• A DECIMAL SYSTEM (BASED ON UNITS OF 10)
• DEVELOPED BY A FRENCH MATHEMATICIAN NAMED GABRIEL
  MOUTON
• aka SYSTEME INTERNATIONAL (SI)

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HOW IT WORKS

• BASIC UNITS (BU) OF MEASURE
• 1) METER (m)
• MEASURES LENGTH
• 2) LITER (L)
• MEASURES VOLUME

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• 3) GRAM (g)
• MEASURES MASS
• 4) TIME (sec)
• MEASURES INTERVAL BETWEEN EVENTS
• THERE ARE MANY MORE

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PREFIXES ARE USED TO SHOW MAGNITUDE (SIZE). LARGE
PREFIXES (GREATER THAN BU) TERA (T) 1 X 1012
(TRILLION) GIGA (G) 1 X 109
(BILLION) MEGA (M) 1 X 106
(MILLION) KILO (k) 1 X 103 (THOUSAND) HECTO
(h) 1 X 102 (HUNDRED) DECA (da) 1 X 101
(TEN)
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SMALL PREFIXES (LESS THAN BU)

• DECI (d) 1 X 10-1 (TENTH)
• CENTI (c) 1 X 10-2 (HUNDREDTH)
• MILLI (m) 1 X 10-3 (THOUSANDTH)
• MICRO (µ) 1 X 10-6 (MILLIONTH)
• NANO (n) 1 X 10-9 (BILLIONTH)
• PICO (p) 1 X 10-12 (TRILLIONTH)

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METRIC CONTINUUM

• NUMBER LINE OF THE METRIC PREFIXES
• EACH SPACE IS A UNIT OF TEN (1 SPACE 10,
• 3 SPACES 1000)

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TO CONVERT BETWEEN UNITS USING THE METRIC
CONTINUUM

• 1. FIND STARTING PREFIX ON NUMBER LINE
• 2. MOVE ALONG NUMBER LINE TO NEW PREFIX (NOTE THE
  DIRECTION NUMBER OF SPACES YOU MOVED)
• 3. MOVE THE DECIMAL TO ITS NEW POSITION

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EX 75 cm ? nm

• START AT c, MOVE TO THE RIGHT TO n. YOU MOVED 7
  SPACES.
• MOVE THE DECIMAL FROM ORIGINAL POSITION 7 SPACES
  TO THE RIGHT.

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• 75 cm 750 000 000 nm

ORIGINAL DECIMAL
MOVED ORIGINAL DECIMAL TO NEW POSITION
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PRACTICE PROBLEMS

• COPY AND WORK.
• 1) 345 g ? µg
• 2) 0.0042 mm ? dam
• 3) 47.09 kL ? GL